Hello Moto (Motorola V525)

Member Name: jenni_a

Product:	Motorola V525
Date:	10/05/04 (13270 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: camera

Disadvantages: quite difficult to use

For a while I?ve wanted to return to my review writing but just as I thought some spare writing time was created I?d remember some coursework that wasn?t done or a test I needed to revise for but anyway here I am returning during my brief break from hectic revision for my upcoming exams. I wanted my returning review to be good and something I could review well and I admit that most of the old spare time was spent pondering over what I could review as I have so many ideas for so many products. I finally came to the decision of my new baby ? my Motorola V525, its something close to me and something I feel I can offer a strong opinion about.

I bought this phone at Christmas online and I feel I have to praise Vodafone?s online shop for the prompt delivery. I ordered the phone for next day delivery even though I found it highly unlikely that the phone would arrive the next day as the next day was Christmas Eve. Despite my doubts the phone arrived on Christmas Eve just as promised.

When I bought my phone I paid £200 for it which was a standard price for it in most shops around Christmas but now the phone is priced at £150 (according to the Vodafone website). I believe if the phone is bought on Orange as the V500 it may be slightly cheaper (don?t be put off by the slight change in name the only difference I have come across between the two is the colour). The phone comes complete with sim card, charger and instructions.

The phone itself is a very attractive flip phone that boasts a colour screen. It is quite similar to the other Motorola flip type phones however has the odd noticeable difference such as the keypad layout. The phone also has an integrated camera which is one of its major selling points. When I first got the phone I found it incredibly difficult to operate so I would recommend reading the instruction booklet which is included in the package. I did however blame my lack of understanding of the phone on the idea that all of my past m
obiles were nokias which are probably the simplest mobiles to operate. The keypad is relatively easy to use however some of the buttons I find quite pointless as it seems there are several ways to access different features and so to me some are there for pure decoration. The display screen is colour and is of a decent size so that it is easy to see what you?re doing although it is sometimes hard to see when there is a great deal of light. The phone weighs a mere 85g.

According to the instructions the phone offers up to 200 hours standby time which is an exceptional amount and near true. I find that I don?t use my phone much during the week and so the battery tends to last a week or a little less as I only use it on weekends, however if you use your phone regularly then don?t expect it to last as long. The phone is said to offer up to 8 hours talk time however I find that when on the phone the battery seems to run low quite quickly.

The phone came included with a huge batch of features that I still haven?t had time or the opportunity to use! The phonebook has a storage capacity of 500 names and numbers according to the instructions however 250 are stored to the sim card and the other 250 to the phone itself. This however makes no difference to me because I don?t know 250 people to fill the phone with let alone 500! An interesting feature of the phone is that picture Ids can be assigned to each number in the book and they appear on the screen when you are being phoned this feature can only be used however by numbers stored directly to the phone not the sim (thought Id tell you that minor detail some of us learnt that the hard way and sat for hours changing them). Also if you want to add the same person to your phonebook twice for example home number and mobile they have to be added twice however to avoid confusion little images can be placed next to their names of mobiles and regular phones (again it took hours). The mobile has speakerphone ability
whilst in a phone call ? I?m not too sure what that means as I?ve never used it but it might be useful to someone out there! As well as this there is a voice dialling function, again I have never used this as I?m not a fan of voice dialling ? those who have read my nokia 3410 op will understand.

One of the major attractions of the phone for me was the opportunity to begin using MMS however I haven?t used this function as unknown to myself until recently when the phone was bought it hadn?t been activated to access the internet unless done by direct call or to send MMS. You can tell whether your phone is compatible through a small symbol that appears near the bars that let u know how much signal you have. If your phone hasn?t been activated you can ring the helpline and ask for GPRS and MMS to be added to your account but I?m too lazy to do so. As well as MMS you can send standard text messages. The phone has predictive text which again I?m not a fan of so I can?t comment on whether it?s effective but sending texts is relatively easy the only thing that took getting used to was the change of button to do a space. With nokias I was used to using zero to do this but with Motorola it?s the star key. The screen gives lines as well to type on which to me is a waste of time but they?re there! The one disadvantage to texts is that they automatically get stored to the outbox and so you have to delete them from there so that they don?t take up all the storage space. I?m not too sure as to whether this can be stopped. As far as I know the phone can store 35 texts.

One of the phones major selling points is the integrated camera. The camera is very simple to use and the quality is very good. The light settings can be changed to make the photo brighter or dimmer and there is a zoom facility. The only fault I?ve found is that sometimes the camera can be quite slow to take the photo and can cause that blurry effect when it?s moved. The storage limit for photos is
around 5MB and so I find it impossible to fill despite my many efforts! The photos taken can be used to personalise the phone in many ways such as caller ID, the screensaver or background of the phone as well as being sent in MMS messages. However as I mentioned before to send the photos to friends you must first of all make sure that the feature is activated on your phone.

The phone comes fully equipped with two games however more can be downloaded from the WAP function or can be bought in stores if the phone is compatible (I?m not too sure). The games are powered by Java. The games available on the phone are monopoly and stuntman. The graphics are excellent and the games are really good. Monopoly however may last you about a month (the same game). I?m not sure how sound can be turned off on the games and I don?t think that you can receive phone calls while playing as I?ve had trouble receiving calls when playing.

The phone offers a WAP function which I have only used a couple of times to download ringtones as it is pricey. The few times I have used it, it has been very good although I did have trouble connecting at first as I could only access it through direct calls. I have later found out that it is because I have not had GPRS enabled. The WAP function is quite good in comparison to that of my old phone but that was expected of a newer model of phone. In order to access it on Vodafone you must have a Vodafone live sim card.

The phone offers many other applications such as alarms (which I find of great use), a calculator, a moto mixer (no clue what it does I didn?t understand the instructions) and a chat facility. As well as these the phone has a built in blue tooth function which allows the phone to be connected to other devices without wires. Also the phone is quad band which allows the phone to be used widely around the world so it?s good for travellers. The phone comes with 40 polyphonic ringtones which are ok if you?re not one f
or having a personalised ringtone but if you?re like me you might think they?re a bit boring. The one problem I have with the ringtones on this phone is that sometimes I don?t hear my phone as it?s not as loud as the nokias.

All in all I am extremely pleased with my purchase and believe that it was £200 well spent. The phone fits all my needs and has so many other features that although I don?t personally use they sound impressive when I mention I have them :P I?d recommend this phone to anyone looking for a camera phone or simply a new model. I would recommend buying this phone online however as it may be difficult to get in shops because when I was looking there was a shortage due to its popularity. I would especially recommend Vodafone.co.uk as the delivery was very prompt.

Thanx for reading
Jenni xx :O)

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